Lockheed: First Army THAAD battery fully equipped

A THAAD missile is launched toward a short-range ballistic missile target on Oct. 5, 2011, during a test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii. THAAD prime contractor Lockheed Martin said it has delivered interceptor missiles and other components to the Army to complete the first THAAD battery. (Missile Defense Agency)

The 24th Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor missile was delivered in December, said Mat Joyce, who in January was named vice president and program manager for THAAD at Lockheed Martin in Huntsville.

Two THAAD batteries have been activated at Fort Bliss, Texas, and a third is expected to be added late this year. The first were the soldiers at the controls during a test last October at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, in which two THAAD interceptors simultaneously destroyed two incoming targets.

"They're fully trained and certified and they have the full complement of the missiles and the ground hardware to support a mission," Joyce said. From this point forward, it is up to the Missile Defense Agency and the Army what the next steps or deployment might be for the battery.

THAAD is part of MDA's layered Ballistic Missile Defense system. THAAD is unique in that it is designed to destroy an incoming ballistic missile at high altitudes inside the atmosphere or just outside the atmosphere while the threat is still in space. Lockheed said that, since 2005, the THAAD program has successfully completed 12 flight tests, and is nine-for-nine in intercepts.

A THAAD battery consists of the truck-mounted launcher, which carries eight interceptor missiles, radar and fire control systems. Lockheed produces the interceptors at Troy, Ala., where 56 of the plant's 300 employees work on THAAD. About 190 more are involved with THAAD in Huntsville. The launchers and fire control systems are made at Lockheed's Camden, Ark., plant.

Joyce said the company had ramped up THAAD missile production since last September, from delivering three missiles per month to alternating between four and five missiles per month. The first U.S. purchase of THAAD missiles will be complete this year, he said, and Lockheed is on contract for the second U.S. buy of missiles and battery hardware. A second THAAD battery should be outfitted in mid-2012.

A total of six THAAD batteries are in the current federal budget plans, which Joyce pointed out are subject to change.

Equipping the first battery is only the latest good news for the program. In December, Lockheed announced the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates had approved a $1.96 billion contract for two THAAD systems and additional maintenance and support equipment. It was the first foreign military sale of the system.

"That was an important milestone for us," Joyce said, and the work is under way. "We're very excited about that partnership with the UAE and with missile deliveries starting in the 2015 time frame."

There is additional THAAD interest in the Middle East, he said, and in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We're at a steady workforce level in Troy ... As we bring on integration, assembly and test for the (UAE) sale, we will increase staffing at that point because our throughput will basically go from four missiles per month to roughly eight," he said.